Ethereum (ETH) is a decentralized, open-source blockchain platform launched in 2015 by Vitalik Buterin and a team of co-founders. While Bitcoin was designed primarily as digital money, Ethereum was built to be a programmable blockchain that supports smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps).
Smart contracts are self-executing programs stored on the Ethereum blockchain. They automatically carry out agreements when predefined conditions are met, removing the need for intermediaries. This capability has made Ethereum the backbone of the DeFi ecosystem, NFTs, and thousands of tokens.
In September 2022, Ethereum transitioned from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake in an upgrade known as "The Merge." This change reduced Ethereum's energy consumption by over 99% and introduced staking as the method for securing the network.
Key facts about Ethereum:
- Ticker symbol: ETH
- Founder: Vitalik Buterin
- Consensus: Proof of Stake
- Use cases: DeFi, NFTs, dApps, tokenization
Transactions on Ethereum require a gas fee paid in ETH. You can interact with Ethereum using wallets like MetaMask or purchase ETH on exchanges such as Coinbase or Binance.